below: Looking northwest at the intersection of Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue West where seven large collages by Daniel Mazzone dominate the corner.

below: On the right, James Dean. It’s difficult to see in this photo, but there are some pink letters on either side of his face. On the left it says “Dream as if you’ll live forever”. On the right is says, “Live as if you will die today”.

below: She repeats. This woman is at the two ends. As far as I can tell, the only difference is the colour of the pattern in the background. On St. Clair it’s purple while it’s red on Yonge. Superman is on her forehead and, in fact, most of the pieces that are used in this artwork are from Superman comics.

below: Charlie Chaplin above the bus shelter. Many of the images used to create the face are also pictures of Charlie Chaplin.

below: Love sees no colour, with Michael Jackson above Yonge Street.

below: “Looking for Beauty” by Daniel Mazzone. Does she see any? There are a few Supermans here too, especially in her face. “Splow” is written in green on her neck.

When I walked down Graffiti Alley yesterday, I discovered quite a few new things that I hadn’t seen before. There were too many for one blog post so I decided to concentrate on the little things this morning.

below: Little stickers stuck all over a piece of metal. My favorite is the “All my friends are awesome” sticker.

below: The window on this wonderful orange door was covered with stickers and spray paint. These three stickers were in the bottom corner.

below: Pasteup collages with pictures of Campbells soup labels, and old camera, and a coca cola bottle. A woman is yelling something in Russian while Lenin peaks out from behind her. Meaning? Maybe only Merz knows?

below: Soada.

below: “Do not attempt to think, or depression may occur.” Sticker by @stick_tags.

below: An octopus by Georgia and a @slole_slaps “It’s All Over” because they really are all over.

below: J isn’t here but another stick_tags wants to know if you’re living your dream. Are you? Maybe J is elsewhere, busy living their dream.

The second annual Brain Project is now on display across the city. These are only a small sample of the brain sculptures that form the exhibit. In total there are 100 brains in about 20 locations around the city. There is a map on the Brain Project website if you are interested in visiting some of them.

below: One of the locations where you can see some of the brain sculptures is Nathan Phillips Square.

Descriptions of all the brains on display around the city, as well as notes on the artists responsible, can be found online. You can vote online for your favorite brain.

below: Circles of beads and sequins – circles representing wholeness and totality come together to form a complex mosaic like the brain itself. “Unleash Your Mind” is by Kara Ross.

below: Sitting on top of a blue and teal brain is a blue jay in a nest – a sculpture by Ted Hamer that is called “Thinkubator”. Here the brain is shown as an idea incubator where the bird symbolizes the idea.

below: “Vitale” by Molly Gambardella is dedicated to the artist’s grandmother who died of Alzheimers in 2016. Vitale was her maiden name.

below: Three of the brains on display at the Distillery District. In front is “Red Head” by Anitra Hamilton who glued pieces of chicken eggshells to the surface of the brain. Red acrylic paint highlights the spaces between the eggshells. In the middle is Cindy Scaife’s “Food for Thought”. Broccoli, avocado, apple and walnut, all healthy foods, play in the park.

below: Also at the Distillery District is a brain by Laura Bundesen, “Not Forgotten” is a collage of fabric embellished with lace and embroidery and beads. It is in memory of her stepmother who suffered from dementia.

Part of the goal of the project is raise awareness of diseases like Alzheimers that affect the brain. Another goal was to raise money – the sculptures are sponsored by various people and corporations (such as Telus). As well, most of the brains from last year’s exhibit have been sold. Funds raised through this project are donated to Baycrest Health Services.

below: Keight MacLean’s “Loss” illustrates the idea of memory and memory loss using a portrait of a person, a loved one. Paint as the memory loss, obscures the picture.

below: Does anyone have an extra jacket they could lend her? Frostbite isn’t fun.

below: It’s Canadian patio weather so it can’t be that cold. Right?

below: Loose bricks become loose teeth. Some guy is trying to hide under the stairs.

below: Fathom graffiti on the foundations of an old house that has been torn down.
Hot and cold perhaps?

below: Filet of sole

below: Cool camel with his headless (mindless!?) glittery arm candy.

below: Persian stews and a pink octopus…. what’s in a Persian stew? If beef stew is beef and rabbit stew is rabbit…. well, I’ll assume that Persian stew isn’t Persians just like Irish stew isn’t Irishes.
I also liked the way that the street art on the open gate merged with the painting on the wall behind.

below: Still meditating with blinking – not distracted by the Christmas balls in front of her face.

below: I thought that this was a window ornament, like the kid you see as a door knocker. But when I zoomed in more closely, I found that is was an old curling trophy!

below: A little sparrow doing some people watching, its feathers all puffed up to keep warm.

below: A woman and a rose in black and white, by bubz

below: Outdoor office. I told you we Canadians were a hardy bunch.

below: Druid and a Christmas tree.

below: Lovebot, grominator, and a poser bunny all together by the rooftops.

below: A number of these little paste-ups (the guy in the yellow frame) by t-bonez have sprung up around downtown. This one is on Augusta.

below: Taking a snowy walk in the neighbourhood that is protected by Rocky, Colt, and Tum Tum from the 3 Ninjas movies.

below: Everyone likes Christmas! Even a stormtrooper….

below: More rooftop graffiti. This time, with new condo development behind. The old brick buildings with glass monsters popping up behind them – a very familiar site these days.

below: In keeping with the sort of PG rating of this blog, I’ll show this poster as the background!

below: The end, no exit. I’ll go no further, except…..

to say have a happy New Year and I hope that 2017 is filled with lots of opportunities to walk and explore!

On a hydro pole in Graffiti Alley, facing more to the nearest wall than to the alley, I discovered an intriguing collage. It was made of a series of pictures, old-style coloured pictures of women who look like they’d be more comfortable in the 1940’s and 1950’s….they’re straight out of vintage magazines.

below: A signature on the bottom of the artwork, Mademoiselle Berthelot. She’s a street artist from Paris who recently left her mark in Toronto.

Stylish women, like this one with long white gloves, surrounded by circles (bubbles?). Circles made with splotches of paint and blue striped circles made with rubber stamps.

If you look closely, there are pairs of birds sitting together on top of sealed envelopes.

So far, this is the only piece I’ve seen by Mademoiselle Berthelot. Are there more in Toronto?